Poisonous Pleasure (19 page)

Confused, Marcella knelt down before him. You also saw Samael, then? You know it is he who wants your soul, not me?”

“Yes, but I don’t know why. What is he planning to do with it?”

“Truthfully, I don’t know. He’s an angel, albeit a dark one. There’s a possibility that he can deliver to both sides, but I’m not sure what his intention are for you.”

“Absolutely not. You’ll live your life until you pass. You just go where they have you.” Marcella lowered her voice and leaned in closer to him until she could feel her breath along his cheek. “You know if you’re good, things can change, right? It’s all up to you.”

Silence greeted her for a long time and she slowly stood, feeling her body revolt against her. “What in the hell did you do to me? Shit,” she groaned.

“I poisoned you blood. You really should be dead. It was meant to be a pleasurable death.”

“Poisonous pleasuring? Interesting.”

“Yes, it is a nice weapon. Anyway, I thank you for the warning, but I still can’t hand over my soul. I hope you understand.”

Marcella looked down to Ambrose and smiled. “I wasn’t counting on you to make this easy.” Lifting her hands she extended the walls out another five feet. The vampire immediately stood.

“And so it begins.” He laughed and charged for her. Vanishing, Marcella placed herself behind him and slammed his body to the ground.

“Yes, it begins.”

”I’m not going to take it easy on your because you’re a woman.”

Before Marcy could answer him, her arms were waving through the air wildly as her legs were knocked from the ground. Hitting the floor hard, she turned her gaze to see Ambrose, but he was already climbing on top of her. Marcella disappeared again and spun him over, pinning him to the ground.

“Your strength is amazing, collector.”

“Thank you. Does this at all feel familiar to you?”

Feeling his hips buck forcefully, she flew forward, pushing off the wall to remain sitting on his chest. “Now that you mention it, I do feel like we’ve done this before.”

His hands wedged under her thighs throwing her into the energy force. Marcella groaned as she caught herself before she slid to the ground.

“All right, you’re starting to piss me off.”

“I’m just getting started. Let me show you some of the cool things I can do.” He laughed wildly and like the previous night, fire raced across her skin. Marcy cried out, slapping at her arms. The moment he stopped the pain ceased.

“Nice, my turn.”

Heat established itself behind her eyes and she felt them begin to glow. The vampire levitated off the ground and his limbs seemed to fight against the lack of gravity. He opened his mouth, but she didn’t give him a chance to speak. Marcella slammed him into the wall at a force that sent his head bouncing off the energy.

“Now, I need your soul.”

“Marcella, may I?”

Dominic motioned for her and she nodded. The wall opened enough to let him in, and Jason quickly ran in behind. “There’s no way I’m letting you all have the fun without me. No one hurts my girlfriend and gets away with it.”

“It was hard to watch, wasn’t it? I didn’t like it at all.” Dom advanced quickly.

Large hands grasped the vampire by his shoulders and slammed him into the wall, repeatedly. Marcella and Jason both had to pull the demon off of Ambrose. “That’s enough. I’m making you get out if you do something like that again.”

“Fine, I’m done,” Dom said, raising his hands in submission. “Now, grab him and lay him down. I want this over with.”

A small bed appeared, and Jason, along with Dom held the vampire down. Marcy pulled off her shirt and straddled Ambrose’s waist. He bucked wildly but she dug into him with her knees so he couldn’t throw her.

Light shone through her skin and she looked down at the symbol on her chest. Gold letters shone brightly through her skin. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words wouldn’t come.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Meeting Dom’s eyes, she felt the beginning of fear. “I’m not sure. Something won’t let me repeat the chant.”

“What do you mean,” Jason asked, fighting against the vampire’s arm.

“Just what I said! I’m not being allowed to speak the words.”

A loud sigh escaped her boyfriend’s mouth. “Please try again, baby. He’s stronger than you think.”

Nodding, Marcella stared at the words and let them repeated in her head. The moment she opened her mouth, her throat felt like it was literally closing up. “I can’t.” A sob broke came out as she looked down at Ambrose’s scared face. What she was doing left her horrified. “I can’t. Oh God, this isn’t right. Let’s regroup and see what we can do. There’s no point in restraining him if we don’t have to. We’ll come back when we think of something.”

They all reappeared on the other side of the invisible force and Marcella stomped the floor, blocking off the room from hearing any sound. “I can’t take this. Did you see his face? This can’t be how collecting is done. It doesn’t feel right. We were so close and yet nothing happened. There has to be a reason. What did I do wrong?”

“Nothing, we’re just missing something.” Dominic went to sit on the bed while he glared at Ambrose.

Marcella pulled her hair out of her face, and tried to think. “The only thing we’re missing in this situation is consent. It’s no better than rape. That’s exactly what it feels like I’m doing.”

“You may be on to something.” Dominic stood walking toward the wall. “You can’t take it from him, he’s going to have to submit and let you.” He turned around, facing them and closed his eyes. “Collectors used to be known to have thousands of followers and servants. They,” Dominic looked at her and got quiet for a moment. “They were icons, so to speak. But more than that, their people loved them, worshipped everything about what they were. Does that make sense? They never had to take anything from anyone. They found ways to win them over.”

“You’re saying I need to make him love me? Are you fucking serious? Like I don’t have enough problems as it is.”

Dominic shrugged. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that earlier. I’m afraid it’s the only way.”

Marcy rolled her eyes. “Well I gave him one hell of a first impression. Great. I’ll be back.” Slowly, she made her way back to the wall, looking at the angry vampire. “Oh, and if he knocks me out and kills me again, don’t worry Samael is having fun sending me back. It seems he’s taken the position of being my angel. Funny, isn’t it? There’s something about that guy. I can’t place my finger on it, but if you ask me, he’s enjoying this too much.”

“Fucking great,” Dominic spit out.

Walking through the wall, electricity hit Marcella’s chest hard, sending her to her knees. Lifting her hand she blocked another round, sending it back his way. Ambrose yelped and rubbed his own chest. “Hurts, doesn’t it? Now enough games. Lay on the bed.”

The look he gave her made her laugh. “I’m not going to try to take your soul. I want to talk.”

“You want to talk now? After everything you’ve done, you want to carry a civil conversation?”

“Yes, I acted horribly before. I’m sorry. It’s not like the person I truly am at all. You’ve tasted my blood. You know I speak the truth. You’ve also seen the options Samael has given me. If I don’t have your soul, I lose Dom. We both know I can’t do that. You felt what I do, right?”

A heavy sigh left the vampire while he lay down on the bed. Marcella joined him, throwing her leg comfortably over his waist. She had no clue who this person was, but she planned to get very much at ease with him, so she wasn’t about to hold back. Nuzzling her face in his neck, she held him.

“Now, tell me what you felt when you tasted my blood.”

“You love your men very much. As you did your family. To you, they are everything.”

Marcella nodded. “They’re all I have in this world, Ambrose.” She let a few moments pass while thoughts of Dom tried pushing their way in. Refusing to listen, she got to the point. “I want you to tell me everything about you, from your childhood up until today. Tell me your likes and dislikes. What your favorite thing to do is and what do you find most pleasurable.”

He turned to her, pulling her leg high up on his waist. “Why do you want to know all of this? You’re going to take my soul regardless, aren’t you?”

“I’m afraid that’s up to you. You see, I could lie to you, but I don’t like lies. To get your soul you have to love me and give it freely. But I won’t take your love without returning it. That is why I want to know everything that makes you the person you are. If you can love me, just a little, I promise I will spend the rest of my days taking care of anything you need. You can go back to your old life or stay here with me. It’ll be up to you.”

Green eyes stared into hers for a long time. “What if I can’t love? What if I don’t want to?”

Marcella thought about his words. “Then I learn to deal with my failure. I’ll lose Dom and since I love him, I’ll reject giving him over to the underworld. They’ll eventually find out about me and kill me. But you see they’ve already done that once before. I can’t remember why, but here I am. I refuse to surrender and even if it is thousands of years later, I’ll come back.”

“You’re like no one I’ve ever met before. I’m not sure what to think about you.”

Cool fingers traced down her jaw line until they reached her neck. She shivered under the soft caress. “There’s something about you and I can’t figure out what it is. Are you sure we haven’t met before?”

Marcella shook her head. “No, not that I’m aware of.”

“Pity. Things could have been different.” The tips of his fingers paused over her pulse point. “I really wish I could have enjoyed your blood, instead of ruining it. You tasted so good. It’s been a while since I’ve fed and I haven’t had nearly enough.”

“It should be fine now. If you want, I’ll let you drink on one condition.”

Placing her palm on his cheek, she pulled his lips down to brush hers. “Don’t take advantage of the situation. You’re a vampire. I know you need blood. I also know you’re a seducer. There’s nothing more that I want than for you to feel comfortable around me. Just don’t push things too fast, okay?”

A look of surprise passed over his features. “I promise. But it may be you I have to contain. I respect your wish while you’re under my influence. See, like you, my true power doesn’t come out until my donor submits. The pleasure you felt before was only a fraction of what I can give you.”

Just hearing his declaration caused an unknown fear. “Will you give me a moment?”

He laughed. “Of course.”

Marcella stood and entered the bedroom. Uneasiness settled over her while she looked at the two men she loved. Their faces masked something she couldn’t read. “You heard what is going on. I need to know where you both stand with this. It’s become clear to me now what direction my life is taking.”

“Please tell me what direction that is?” Jason asked angrily. “Are you going to have to love and fuck every man Samael assigns you? Or how about followers? Are you going to have to fuck every follower you acquire?”

“Jason, don’t talk to her that way. Just, everyone stop for a minute.” Dominic sat down on the bed. “What she has to do is going to be hard for both of us, but it’s what she is. What she’s made to do. I just wish I would have remembered and put the pieces together sooner so we could have been prepared. She’s a collector, Jason. Collectors had lovers, but they had to have a certain amount of freedom. I think.” Dom shook his head aggravated. “I wish I would have listened to the stories more, but they’re pretty forbidden to talk about.”

“Well, I don’t like it, and I don’t like him.”

Marcella walked up to her best friend and held both of his hands in hers. “Jason, it’s the way it has to be. He’s not bad, I can feel it. I think he just needs love and gentleness.”

“And you can give that to him, is that it?”

“You know she can,” Dominic said, walking over to them. “I’m behind you no matter what happens, now or in the future. As long as I have you here with me, you can bring a hundred people to live in this house and I’d sleep beside you every night without a single fear of losing you.”

Jason’s jaw fell opened. “Well, I’m glad someone can handle it because I’m not sure I can. I feel your need, Marcella, right here,” he said, pushing his palm against her chest. “But I’m telling you, in the long run it might be too much for me to take.”

“You’re not the only one who’s going to have to deal with sharing, Jason. You forget what you are. At some point you’ll have to collect, and when you do, you’ll be bringing in followers and servants of your own. I’ve lived my life by saying I won’t share you, but it looks like I don’t have much of a choice, either. Do you know how sick that makes me?”

Jason’s skin grew extremely pale. “I didn’t think about it that way. I’m sorry. It looks like we’re both stuck in the same situation.”

“Yes, but we’ll still have each other. And that’s all that matters.”

“You’re right. I think I need to go…think. Tell him I said welcome to the family.”

“Thank you,” Ambrose yelled through the wall.

Marcella rolled her eyes, forgetting she didn’t think to make it to where he couldn’t hear. “Well, if you don’t mind Dom, I’d like some time alone with Ambrose. He needs to feed and we have a lot to discuss.”

“Right. I think I’ll just go with Jason. Be careful. If you need me, just do the summons.”

Nodding, Marcella turned back to the vampire. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.” Walking through the wall she sat easily on the bed, swinging her feet up to lie down. The sound of the bedroom door closing put her at ease. She really didn’t want them to witness what might happen.

“I’m glad I got to hear. Now, come lay closer and relax. I promise not to let you try to rip my clothes off.” He laughed.

“Is it really that good?”

“I hear it is better. If you would like to put your shirt back on, I can wait.”

Looking down at the white lace bra, Marcella’s cheeks heated. She’d become so comfortable in the nude she hadn’t even noticed she still remained almost topless. “Actually if you don’t mind, I think I’ll get back in my gown. It’s more comfortable and easier for you to feed. But maybe this one will be red. White is for Dominic.”